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First Amendment Limitations

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In a democracy, freedom of speech and the press must be accorded great respect, but other values such as national security, the protection of reputation or public safety sometimes conflict with First Amendment guarantees. Discuss the approaches that have been used by the Supreme Court to define the limits on expression. How have these approaches been applied in specific cases?
Several restrictions have been formulated on expression. The first approach used by the Supreme Court is the Clear and Present Danger. It is a test under the Espionage Act in 1919. “Under that test, expression may be restricted if it would cause a dangerous condition, actual or imminent, that Congress has the power to prevent” (Sidlow & Henschen, 83). The second one is …show more content…

It has been uphold by the Supreme Court in many ways. In 1947, the New Jersey has passed a law that allowed the state to pay for the students’ bus transportation who attended parochial schools. Although the Court stipulated that no tax could be collected to support religious activities, it still upheld the law of New Jersey because the court believed that the state didn’t help the church directly but for the benefit of students. Besides, the Court opposed the practice that the Regent asked the schools to let students prayer in classroom. Because “no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government” (Sidlow & Henschen, 78). It also ruled against the daily one-minute period of silence because the court considered this activity appeared to support religion. In addition, the Court regarded the behavior of “forbidding the teaching of evolution on the schools are unconstitutional” (Sidlow & Henschen, 79). Overall, I think the Court opposed the conduct of imposing religious ideas on students. It supported the practice that could benefit the students without involving in religious activities …show more content…

Arizon was that the Court needed to decide when and how the suspects could have constitutional rights. There were so many problems in regard to this issue, for example, should the suspects keep silence all the time or just during the trial? In order to clarify these questions, the the Supreme Court released the decision in Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda warnings are established as followings: Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed (Sidlow & Henschen,

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1959 Words | 8 Pages

This case is also regularly cited in other Supreme Court cases and is often a deciding factor. It has been used in cases like Konigsberg v. State Bar “That view, which of course cannot be reconciled with the law relating to libel, slander, misrepresentation, obscenity, perjury, false advertising, solicitation of crime, complicity by encouragement, conspiracy, and the like, is said to be compelled by the fact that the commands of the First Amendment are stated in unqualified terms: "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble . . . . " But as Mr. Justice Holmes once said: "[T]he provisions of the Constitution are not mathematical formulas having their essence in their form; they are organic living institutions transplanted from English soil.

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305 Words | 2 Pages

Miranda v. Arizona In 1966 Ernest Miranda was arrested at his home and taken to a police station where he was identified by the complaining witness. After a 2 hour interrogation he was found guilty of kidnapping and rape. He confessed all of this without being read his rights. The police did not read him his rights that are stated in the 5th amendment.

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1682 Words | 7 Pages

an you imagine yourself having to start your daily school routine with a prayer? This became a serious question to be taken up by the Supreme Court of the US, in November of 1951. Following an increase in in juvenile crime (many believe caused by the Korean War). The New York Board of Regents adopted a prayer to be recited in NY public schools (Dierenfield 67). The prayer was established because “...the regents believed that such a program would ensure that school children would acquire ‘respect for lawful authority and obedience to law’ ”

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426 Words | 2 Pages

The reasoning behind that decision was that the provision allowing students to absent themselves from that activity did not make that law constitutional. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent government interference with religion (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). Justice Douglas concurred with what the court had found. He took a broader view of the Establishment Clause, arguing that any type of public promotion of religion, including giving financial aid to religious schools, violates the establishment clause (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). I would agree with this decision in some ways, but there are some that I do not agree with.

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814 Words | 4 Pages

The supreme court overturned the ruling saying that a defendant, “must be warned prior to any questioning that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires ( Miranda v. Arizona SCOTUS 1).” The supreme court ruled this in order to protect suspects from being pressured by law enforcement to incriminate

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524 Words | 3 Pages

In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision Miranda v. Arizona in 1966 ruled that Ernesto Miranda is entitled to rights against self-discrimination and to an attorney under the 5th and 6th Amendments of the United States Constitution. At trial, the oral and written confessions were presented to the jury. Miranda was found guilty of kidnapping and rape and was sentenced to 20-30 years imprisonment on each count. On appeal, the Supreme Court of Arizona held that Miranda's constitutional rights were not violated in obtaining the confession. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, ruled that the prosecution could not introduce Miranda's confession as evidence in a criminal trial because the police had failed to first inform Miranda of his right to an attorney and against

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1049 Words | 5 Pages

To make sure that the constitution's protections continue to be strong and accessible, legislators and legal experts would need to have open discussions as the limits of free speech are challenged in new circumstances. The challenge of maintaining and updating the constitutional protections in an age of misinformation is finding an appropriate balance between supporting free speech and preventing harm without going too far in either direction or using censorship. As time goes on, society changes and new protections and limits can be brought into law by legislators in the Congress and the House of Representatives, as long as the rights brought by the amendment are still

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650 Words | 3 Pages

On June 25, 1962, a Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, was decided. The lawsuit was brought to the United States Supreme Court by parents (of students who attended schools in the Herricks School District) who complained that a nondenominational prayer instituted by the New York Board of Regents in their district was unconstitutional. The parents argued that the prayer, although optional, violated their First Amendment Rights. When the 6-1 (two justices did not vote) decision was made, it was ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. One concurring opinion was given, and the single judge that did not vote the same as the rest provided

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Censorship of The First Amendment This paper will discuss how censorship denies citizens of the United States our full rights as delineated in the First Amendment. It will outline how and why the first amendment was created and included in the Constitution of the United States of America. This paper will also define censorship, discuss a select few legal cases surrounding freedom of speech and censorship as well as provide national and local examples of censorship.

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258 Words | 2 Pages

The first amendment main purpose is to limit the power of the congress. It restricts them. The same limit however does not apply to us. We are allowed to express yourself without interference or constraint by the government but the government can limit both the content of speech and the ability to engage in speech as long as the government has a “substantial justification.”

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698 Words | 3 Pages

The first amendment, which protects amongst other things our freedom of speech, is tantamount in “preventing the majority from imposing its views on [the minority]” (481). However, in this famous case the will of the majority, the Boy Scout of America leaders, leading to the exclusion of the minority, James Dale, from based on his openness about his sexual orientation which conflicted with the beliefs of the scouts at the time. Despite the fact that he was free to speak about his orientation with newspapers and whomever he wishes in general, the ideas were seen by the Scouts as an affront on their “morally straight” requirements which is also protected under the first amendment. This raises two integral questions about the nature of our fundamental

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890 Words | 4 Pages

The problem arose when the police officers said they had not advised Miranda of his right to an attorney. Miranda’s lawyer was concerned that his Sixth Amendment Right had been violated. This case was noticed by the ACLU and was taken to the Supreme Court. This case raised issues within the Supreme Court on the rights of Criminal Defendants.

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530 Words | 3 Pages

The Importance of the 1st Amendment In 1787 our founding fathers assembled the constitution of the United States of America. Of this which contains the most important document to the American citizen, the Bill of rights. The first Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” These freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights are often known as freedom of expression. These rights are most important to a truly free society. The first amendment provides us with new ideas and dismisses the fear of punishment

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707 Words | 3 Pages

It violated the Establishment of Clause because the school was promoting religion to the student and this is not

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1570 Words | 7 Pages

Freedom of speech and expression which happens to be a natural right is acquired by a human beings on birth. It happens to be a basic right and is supposed to be the first condition of liberty. It occupies a primordial position in the hierarchy of the liberty. Freedom of speech and expression implies that an individual has the right to accord expression to his own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. To put it in a nutshell it connotes the expression of one’s ideas through any communicable medium or visible representation, such as, gesture, sighs and the like.1 It is widely regarded in the modern times that the right to freedom of speech is the defining feature of a free society and it must be safeguarded at all time and at all costs.

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